DFPG has picked up about a dozen Cetera reps over the past six months. Most were attracted by the DFPG’s focus on alternative investments and its internal due-diligence capability, Bendix said, something Cetera has backed away from.
 
Nevertheless, through all the bad news over the past year-and-half, Cetera-affiliated advisors have been surprisingly patient.
 
“There’s been some movement, but for the most part advisors are looking at having their backup plans ready if things go really wrong,” Papike said.
 
A promised retention deal -- part of the restructuring plan -- could help calm nerves.
 
“They are being presented with retention bonuses so I am not sure we will see as many reps exiting as one might expect,” said Abby Salameh, chief marketing officer at the Private Advisor Group in Morristown, N.J., a large OSJ of LPL Financial, with more than 500 advisors.
 
Private Advisor Group has been in discussions with “a number” of Cetera Financial advisors over the past few months, Salameh said in an email.
 
Recruiters think the retention package could be from 5 percent to 15 percent of trailing 12-months production, based on past deals in the independent space. The offers are usually structured as forgivable loans with three- or four-year terms.
 
But details of the package hadn’t been disclosed as of press time, and with RCAP struggling to pay its bills and debt holders, a generous plan may be out of the question.
 
“Better producers will get something,” but not all will qualify, said Jon Henschen, head of Henschen & Associates LLC, a recruiting firm.
 
RCAP has also kept its deferred compensation plan intact, an important step in retaining advisors, Henschen added.

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